Category: Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Notes from class: “My appointed fate I must endure as best I can, knowing the power of necessity is irresistible.” – Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus “I suffer the unrelenting savagery of Zeus.” – Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus “Are there any in all this suffering world who endure what I endure?” – Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus An essay on fate might begin… “My appointed fate I … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Aeschylus

From class: We see that Tess is rebellious when she tersely replies to Alec d’Urberville, “did it never strike your mind that what all women say, some women feel?” Her tone here is exasperated; she is tired of hiding her true feelings because of her lower class status, and she finally snaps with an outbreak of temper. We see Tess is independent when… We see … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Sentence Starters Revision Task

Choose a novel or short story in which there is a moment of significance for one of the characters. Explain briefly what the significant moment is and discuss, with reference to appropriate techniques, its significance to the text as a whole. In Thomas Hardy’s 1891 novel, “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the protagonist, Tess, experiences a moment of significance when she is rejected by her new … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – One-Paragraph Essay

Notes from class: Choose a novel or short story which deals with true love, unrequited love or love betrayed. Discuss the writer’s exploration of the theme and show to what extent it conveys a powerful message about the nature of love. The love affair between Tess and Angel is nearly begun at the start of the novel, when Angel sees, but does not dance with, … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Topic Sentence Revision

Please use this to complete your own grids. Remember, these are suggestions: you should do your own thinking and choose your own quotations. Remember, you should be able to analyse whichever quotations you choose… Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Quotations – Grid – complete Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Quotation Grids

Notes from class: Tess immediately shifts from “Artemis” and “Demeter” in Angel’s eyes, to an “unapprehending peasant”. Tess is shown in the novel’s opening with a “red ribbon in her hair”, and this motif follows her to Trantridge (where she has “full red lips”), to Talbothays (“where her skin has “madder stains”), and finally to the lodging house at Sandbourne, where the Alec’s blood stains … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Multi-Quoting

Notes from class: T The first event which contributes to the final turning point is when Tess’s father is approached by Parson Tringham. I Tess’s father is surprised when he is shown his d’Urberville heritage. Q The Parson says to him, while walking home, “Good night Sir John.” E It is interesting that Tringham uses the name “Sir”. E From this, we learn that in … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – TIQEESQEEC

Tomorrow’s essay question: Answers to questions on prose fiction should address relevantly the central concern(s)/theme(s) of the text(s) and be supported by reference to appropriate techniques of prose fiction such as: characterisation, setting, key incident(s), narrative technique, symbolism, structure, climax ,plot, atmosphere, dialogue, imagery … Choose a novel in which a central character is flawed but remains an admirable figure. Show how the writer makes … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Notes from class: “So each had a private little sun for her soul to bask in; some dream, some affection, some hobby, or at least some remote and distant hope….” All of the girls in Tess’s village are working class, and their dreams are remote to them – unlikely ever to be fulfilled. “I don’t know; but I think so. They sometimes seem to … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles

The rejection of Tess Durbeyfield by Angel Clare is the turning point of Thomas Hardy’s 1891 novel, “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”. Despite promises of undying love to Tess, Angel is disgusted by Tess’s sexual past, and abandons his new wife in order to travel to Brazil. While this event is central to Hardy’s story, it also reveals key underlying themes such as misogyny and the … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Sample Essay

Notes from class: Choose a novel or short story in which there is a character who experiences rejection or isolation. With reference to appropriate techniques, explain the rejection or isolation, and discuss how this aspect adds to your appreciation of the text as a whole. 5 point introduction Section 1. Tess experiences rejection by Angel Clare. “You were one woman, you are now another.” … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Planning

The hypocrisy of Angel Clare is rank, and he bears huge responsibility for the tragic fate of Tess Durbeyfield (“Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, 1891). Hardy’s characterisation of Angel as man who will not be bound by social convention creates hope for happiness in his heroine, but Clare’s cowardly rejection of Tess reveals both the weakness of his character, and also the punishing social conventions of … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Introductions

Title: “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” Name of the author: Thomas Hardy Date: 1891 Gist: A young working class girl’s terrible fate which unfolds after she is raped by an upper class man in Victorian England. Intention: How Tess’s rejection by Angel sheds light on the rest of the novel. Answers to questions on Prose Fiction should refer to the text and to such relevant … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Notes from Class

Heritage/ Alec Alec’s heritage is central to a key misunderstanding in the novel. D’Uurberville’s original family name was Stoke, and his father simply bought the name to give his family an aristocratic history. However, this was unknown to Tess or her father, so Tess effectively seeks a family connection with the wrong family. Her father, drunk, proclaims that his family has “skellingtons” in a tomb … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Sample Dice Revision Paragraphs

Choose a novel or short story in which the choice of setting is central to your appreciation of the text. Briefly explain how the writer effectively creates setting and, with reference to appropriate techniques, discuss how the writer’s presentation of the setting is central to your appreciation of the text as a whole. A major presence, almost an extra character, setting plays a crucial … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Setting Essay

As preparation for the podcast task: Tess Durbeyfield is a positive role model for girls What do we mean by “role model”? Someone successful in their chosen field? Someone who overcomes difficulties? Someone who attempts to make the world a better place? Someone who does not give in when life seems against them? Someone willing to take a stand against injustice? What make a … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Choose a novel or short story in which there is a moment of significance for one of the characters. Explain briefly what the significant moment is and discuss, with reference to appropriate techniques, its significance to the text as a whole. The rape of Tess Durbeyfield is the keystone, around which all of Thomas Hardy’s 1891 novel (“Tess of the d’Urbervilles”) is built. In this single scene, … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Significant Moment

When Tess is raped, her life is taken in an entirely different direction. Alec forces himself upon Tess when she is asleep, showing how passive she is. While this happens, we are told that “upon her eyelashes there lingered tears”. Hardy uses a degree of ambiguity here – if Tess was asleep, she could not have been conscious of what was happening. The fact that … Continue reading Tess – Ticky-Squeak Example

Choose a novel or short story in which there is a moment of significance for one of the characters. Explain briefly what the significant moment is and discuss, with reference to appropriate techniques, its significance to the text as a whole. Continue reading Tess – Timed Essay Question

Notes from today’s lunchtime group. Sample question – How far a character changes over the course of a novel. A good introduction Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a novel written by Thomas Hardy in 1891. The plot of the drama addresses the fortunes of a young peasant girl in Hardy’s fictional Wessex, who through a range of circumstances beyond her control, is driven … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Better Introductions

“O why have you treated me so MONSTROUSLY, Angel ! I do not deserve it. I have thought it all over carefully, and I can never, never FORGIVE you!” Tess has come to the realization that Angel’s treatment of her has been disgusting and expresses this in a letter to him. However, Angel is able to be reconciled with Tess, perhaps showing that their love … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Seventeen

How is the title of this section ironic? To be “fulfilled” usually means achieving some kind of happiness. In this regard it is a strange name for the phase, though on some level, Tess does achieve some fulfilment – a brief period of happiness with Angel before her death (and the end of her suffering). “Fulfilment” is also the end result of a process. So … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Sixteen

“You, and those like you, take your fill of pleasure on earth by making the life of such as me bitter and BLACK with sorrow; and then it is a fine thing, when you have had enough of that, to think of securing your pleasure in heaven by becoming CONVERTED!” This is a terrifically spirited riposte from Tess. She says that the upper classes have … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Fifteen

Alec is the convert. He has found Christianity and turned his back on his former life. However, his faith unravels when he meets Tess again. (It is interesting to remember that Angel’s father oversaw Alec’s conversion.) Tess is emotionally exhausted by this point. Angel has not contacted her, and she is living in abject poverty at Flintcombe Ash. The straw which breaks the camel’s back … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Fourteen

“Angel–is she a young woman whose history will bear INVESTIGATION?” With a mother’s instinct Mrs. Clare had put her finger on the kind of trouble that would cause such a disquiet as seemed to agitate her son. “She is SPOTLESS!” he replied; and he felt that if it had sent him to eternal hell there and then he would have told that lie. ” This … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Thirteen

Angel is unable to forgive Tess because he believes her crime is so heinous as to make her a different person. He says that, “”O Tess, forgiveness does not apply to the case! You were one person; now you are another.” It is because he has put Tess on such a high pedestal that by suggesting she is human, or that she is any way … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Twelve

“Yes; at that dance on the green; but you would not dance with me. O, I hope that is no ill- omen for us now!” Links to Tess’s faith in local superstitions and fate. She feels that Angel’s failure to take Tess as a partner at their first meeting may indicate ill-luck in the future. “She knew that they were waiting like wolves just outside … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Eleven

The Consequence refers to the resultant action of Tess’s inability to confess to Angel, but also the after-effects of confessing: Angel’s rejection of her. Tess makes two attempts to confess her past to Angel. The first time his indulgent attitude causes her to retreat and tell him about her d’Urberville ancestry. Her letter slips under the rug, so that this effort … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Ten

“She went stealthily as a cat through this profusion of growth, gathering CUCKOO SPITTLE on her skirts, cracking snails that were underfoot, staining her hands with THISTLE MILK and slug-slime, and rubbing off upon her naked arms sticky blights which, though snow-white on the apple-tree trunks, made madder STAINS on her skin…” The language here is incredibly sensual, emphasising the S, TH and K sounds. … Continue reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Task Nine